USB Testers for cables & chargers

Cables measurement equipment (USB testers)

​I use the following USB testers to test USB cables and chargers:

• ChargerLab Power-Z KM003C (Amazon), (AliExpress) 

  • The tester can test a wide variety of USB power supply charging protocols including proprietary (although some protocols require a proprietary cable), read information from e-maker chip, identify Thunderbolt 3/4/5 cable, online monitoring of voltage (ripple), current, power and charging protocol used.

  • There is a UsbC male plug, a UsbC female port for external power supply and connection to a PC, and a UsbC female port for testing using an external cable or connecting an external power consumer.

  • Advanced firmware with detailed PD protocol logs

  • ​Shows voltage levels on lines D+/D-, C1, C2

  • It can act as a trigger for protocols, including PPS. I use this functionality for load testing USB charging adapters that can provide higher power via PPS than PD.

  • Has a gyroscope (provides auto-rotation of the screen)

  • Has a supercapacitor that is used instead of a battery for stable operation during testing (if no separate external power supply is available)

  • Firmware is regularly updating, so the device is up to date and and it's capabilities are increasing over time.

  • Can not check cable pins/wire conductivity and cable resistance.

  • This USB cable tester I am using for reading eMaker chip parameters, determine USB version, Thunderbolt and PD power rating for a USB cables testing purposes.

  • This is the best tester in terms of its technical and functional characteristics, reliability.

  • Documentation and software for Windows

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• FNIRSI-FNB58 USB Tester (Amazon), (AliExpress)

  • The tester can do almost the same thing as the KM003C, but cannot detect Thunderbolt cables and some proprietary charging protocols.

  • The tester is able to measure the resistance of the cable. (Using an external load that I made separately).

  • The tester has the following USB ports: UsbA male connector, UsbA female port, Micro-B port (top) used for external power supply and connection to a PC, UsbC (2x), Micro-B.

  • ​Another disadvantage is the lack of firmware updates for a long time (and the latest update did not bring any noticeable changes)

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• Treedix USB cable tester (Amazon)

  • All standard USB ports are presented in this tester: UsbC (x2), UsbA 2.0, UsbA 3.0, Micro-B 2.0, Micro-B 3.0, Type-B 3.0, Mini-B, Lighting

  • I use this analogue tester to determine which pins of the cable are connected to determine if the cable can transfer data and what version of USB (2.0/3.0) it supports or if the cable can only be used for low power and 5V charging.

  • The device is fairly simple, lacking e-maker chip detection and charging protocols, but handy for visual evaluation of connected pins.

  • Physical contacts of cables for measurement with a multimeter probe are conveniently located

  • It is impossible to test a cable with length less than 50cm (1.6ft)

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• BitTradeOne USB Cable Checker2 (Amazon.com)

  • I purchased this Japanese usb tester for convenience and to speed up the cable testing process since it has a LCD screen.

  • USB ports are presented in this tester: UsbC (x2), UsbA, Micro-B 2.0, Mini-B

  • The tester can determine conductivity of wires/contacts (but is visually less convenient than the Treedix)

  • The tester is able to determine cable resistance without external load, which allows to do without UsbA-UsbC adapter (used for FNB58). The resistance value is determined consistently 60mOhm higher than FNB58, so I take into account the 60mOhm correction when testing until I start using precise 4-wire Kelvin method for resistance measurements. Compared to the 4-contact method, the error of my device is +/- 25-30 mOhm (shows as a lower as a higher value).

  • Also the tester shows the presence and value of the resistor installed in the UsbC cables on the CC pin.

  • There is no option to test chargers, only cables​